Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 10, 2026

Who we are

Our website address is https://localcross.com. LocalCross was created by Ed Moore, Jacob Fogg, and David LaFontaine. This game was created to help small-to-midsize local news publishers boost audience engagement, drive traffic to their news content, generate income, and — oh yeah — have some fun.

This policy covers two things: this website, and the LocalCross game itself, wherever you play it. LocalCross is usually embedded on a local news publisher's website. When you play it there, the publisher's own privacy policy also applies to their site; this policy explains what LocalCross collects and does inside the game.

If you have questions about any of this, email us at [[email protected]].

What we collect when you play LocalCross

When you play a LocalCross puzzle, we collect basic information about how the game is used. For example: how many times a puzzle was loaded, how long people play, which clues or squares players get stuck on, whether a puzzle was finished, and which publisher's site the puzzle was played on. We also receive technical information your browser sends automatically, such as your IP address, browser type, device type, and screen size.

We collect this to figure out where LocalCross can be improved and to show publishers how their readers are using the game. We do not ask for your name or email address to play a puzzle. If a feature in the game does ask for that (for example, a leaderboard or a "save my progress" option), we'll tell you at that point what we're collecting and why.

We share aggregate gameplay statistics with the publisher whose site you played on. That means totals and patterns (how many people played, average completion time), not a profile of you personally.

Advertising

LocalCross is free for readers because it shows ads. We use Google AdSense and Google Ad Manager to serve ads in and around the game.

Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies and similar technologies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website and other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads based on your visit to sites that use LocalCross and other sites on the internet.

You can opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google's Ads Settings at https://www.google.com/settings/ads. You can opt out of some other third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalized advertising at https://www.aboutads.info/choices. You can read about how Google uses information from sites and apps that use its services at https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

If you're in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you'll see a consent message before any personalized ads are shown, and you can change your choice at any time using the privacy settings link in the game or on this site.

Some ad formats in the game are optional. For example, we may offer you the choice to watch a short ad in exchange for a hint. Those ads only run if you choose them.

Donations and payments

Some publishers use LocalCross to invite readers to support their journalism with a donation. Donations are processed by a payment processor (such as PayPal, Patreon, or Stripe), not by LocalCross. We never see or store your full card number. The payment processor's privacy policy applies to the payment itself. If we receive confirmation that a donation was made and its amount, we only use that information so we can report it to the publisher.

Analytics

We use Google Analytics 4 on localcross.com to understand how visitors use this website. It sets cookies and collects information such as pages visited, time on site, approximate location, and the device and browser you're using. You can opt out of Google Analytics with Google's browser add-on at https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on this site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor's IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available at https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files stored by your browser. LocalCross and this website use them for a few purposes:

Game function. The game may store a small amount of data in your browser (cookies or local storage) so that a half-finished puzzle is still there when you come back, and so the game remembers settings like whether you prefer to skip filled squares. These don't identify you personally.

Advertising. See the Advertising section above. These are set by Google and its advertising partners.

Analytics. See the Analytics section above.

Comments and login. If you leave a comment on our site you may opt in to saving your name, email address, and website in cookies so you don't have to fill in your details again. These last for one year. If you visit our login page, we set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies; it contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser. When you log in, we also set cookies to save your login information and screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select "Remember Me," your login persists for two weeks. If you log out, the login cookies are removed.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. If you block all cookies, ads will still appear but won't be personalized, and the game may not remember your progress between visits.

Embedded content from other websites

Content on this site may include embedded content (videos, images, articles, and so on). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if you had visited the other website. Those websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Who we share your data with

We share data with:

Publishers. The news organization whose site you played on receives aggregate gameplay statistics for their readers, as described above.

Google. As our advertising and analytics provider, Google receives the technical information described in the Advertising and Analytics sections.

Service providers. Companies that host our servers, back up our site, and [process payments]. They handle data on our behalf and aren't allowed to use it for their own purposes.

We don't sell your personal information, and we don't share it with anyone else unless the law requires it. If you request a password reset, your IP address is included in the reset email.

How long we retain your data

Gameplay statistics are retained indefinitely in aggregate form so we can see how LocalCross performs over time. Technical logs that include IP addresses are kept for 90 days and then deleted or anonymized.

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely so we can recognize and approve follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users who register on this website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

What rights you have over your data

If you have an account on this site, have left comments, or have played the game, you can ask us for an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also ask us to erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include data we're obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

If you're in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, you also have the right to object to or restrict certain processing, to correct inaccurate data, and to complain to your local data protection authority. If you're a California resident, you have the right to know what personal information we collect and to request its deletion; we don't sell personal information.

To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected]. We'll respond within 30 days.

Children

LocalCross is meant for general audiences and is not directed at children under 13. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, email us and we'll delete it.

Where your data is sent

Our servers are located in the United States. If you play LocalCross from outside the US, your data is transferred to and processed in the US.

Changes to this policy

When we update this policy, we'll change the date at the top. If a change is significant, we'll say so on this page.